To share what's "happening" at the Alamo Inn, including trip reports from birding excursions, announcements, and news.

Monday, November 26, 2018

The Foggy Flats

11/24/18

Headed
out into the fog this morning to bird Sacahuistale Flats and Port Mansfield,
and seriously wondered if it was time to hang up the Sacahuistale Flats
portion:I had never seen so much traffic on that road in my life (and when
they’re zipping by at 75 mph that’s nothing to take lightly)!Traffic noise (mostly folks taking their
boats to PM) made it hard to hear the birds at the various stops, but there
were periods of quiet, plus the occasional cooperative birds that would sit on
the wires and let me see them! JThe raptors are always easy, and this time
Red-tailed Hawks won the numbers game, followed by Harris’ Hawks, Crested
Caracaras, Kestrels, and singletons of White-tailed Hawk and Northern
Harrier.I would have totally missed the
Osprey had he not whistled (and the nearby Harris’ scolded him)!

As
usual, the ag fields had their share of Horned Larks, Western Meadowlarks, and
Long-billed Curlews, and at one stop a single American Pipit flew over.Kiskadees and Mockingbirds were all along the
route, and both Tropical and Couch’s Kingbirds vocalized in order to get
logged.My friends laugh at me because I
like to do these road routes “BBS” style (stopping every half mile for a couple
of minutes), and one stop just happened to be next to the only visible (and
normally dry) wetland along the route, which added both grebes, several ducks,
and a Belted Kingfisher to the list!Once out in the thornscrub the normal Valley specialties sounded off
(between lulls in the traffic), so both thrashers, Cactus Wren, Olive Sparrow,
Verdin, Green Jay, and even Altamira Oriole were added (the latter did decide to sit on a wire for me J)!Lark, Savannah, and Lincoln’s Sparrows were
numerous, but at one stop a Grasshopper Sparrow joined the lineup!Several Eastern Meadowlarks sang unseen as we
got into the open areas, and some Bobwhites made some odd sounds that stumped
me until one of them did something I recognized!I was pleased as punch to add several Sedge
Wrens in appropriate habitat, while House Wrens were so numerous they actually
got flagged by eBird!The fog was thick,
but still heard Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese apparently flying above it!

Hidden wetland along SR 186

American Wigeons in the foreground and Gadwalls in the background

Mouthy Tropical Kingbird

Once
in Port Mansfield I headed over to the Laguna Rec Area, but stopped first at
the little wetland where the road curves (again, usually dry).This time it had several Laughing Gulls and
Great Blue Herons, plus a couple of Gull-billed Terns lounging with them.A beat up female (or maybe a juvie) Turkey
was poking around someone’s driveway, and the only White-winged and Collared
Doves of the day were chowing down at one of the deer feeders.

Great Blue Heron and Laughing Gulls

Scruffy-looking Wild Turkey in someone's driveway

Getting
into the rec area was a little adventurous:before they improved the road (and the whole place, really), getting in
could be a death trap, and even today it was a mite slimy, but that last bit
just before the very end of the road was like driving through a snow bank!There were two guys already there (obviously
having made it through themselves) and were watching me intently to see if I got
stuck, but Heppy performed famously as any Subaru should J, and I greeted
the two guys with, “Well, that was an
adventure!” JAfter I set up my scope on the observation deck the older gentleman came
up and asked about the egret that was feeding, which was, of course, a white
morph Reddish Egret doing his “dance”!He was impressed with the new Sibley app that showed both morphs and
commented on how beautiful the dark morph was!Some White Ibis flew by while we were chatting as well.I spent about 15 minutes there and added
Avocets, Caspian and Forster’s Terns, gobs of both flavors of pelicans (along
with cormorants), both yellowlegs, several turnstones, and assorted other
shorebirds along with the ever-present Laughing Gulls.Getting out of there was even more of an adventure, but we made it!

Avocets keeping company with a white morph Reddish Egret

Savannah Sparrow on the way out

Fred
Stone County Park was next, and on the way there a thrush-like thing flew over
the car which thankfully vocalized:an
American Robin!They had built a huge
“boat barn” since I was there last, but it was a productive spot, with
Black-bellied Plovers being added to the list along with more gulls, terns, and
herons, but the best bird was a Franklin’s Gull in with the Laughers!A big flock of American Goldfinches bounced
by as well, my first of the season!

A late Franklin's Gull (right) hangs with a Laughing

The Franklin's is third from the left

Hit
the Nature Trail after that, where two vans full of little kids had just
arrived, but thankfully their attention was directed to the deer in the
meadow!In the woodland, something
chirped that almost sounded like a redstart, but I just couldn’t get it to come
out.A more recognizable Summer Tanager
did his pic-a-choo call, and a Catbird
gave his distinctive call.Things were
quieting down, but the sun was trying to come out, and with it several
butterflies:found Common Mestra,
Southern Dogface, American Lady, Long-tailed Skipper, and a wasp that the folks
at BugGuide immediately ID’d for me as a Hairy Desert Wasp (Campsomeris tolteca)!At another set of flowers a couple of moths
joined the Queens; one I’m guessing as a Yellow Mocis until told otherwise, but
was able to nail down another as a Scraped Pilocrocis Moth!The strangest flying thing was a cross
between a para-sailer and an ultralight buzzing overhead!

Common Mestra

Southern Dogface (left) and Hairy Desert Wasp

Here joined by a Long-tailed Skipper

American Lady

Another view of the Long-tailed Skipper

The wasp flees...

Close up of the Southern Dogface

(and you can see the "dog face" in the forewing!)

Yellow Mocis (best guess)

Scraped Pilocrocis Moth

Mechanical bird...

The
kids were trailing me, so I looped around and ended up behind them, and they
ended up leaving the same time I did; they seemed to be enjoying
themselves!After removing the burrs
from my socks I headed home, adding Scissor-tailed Flycatcher to the
Sacahuistale Flats list!In total had 93
species for the morning, which isn’t bad considering the fog and the noise
level! L